Marvel Cinematic Universe
by Woman of Marvel
Summary: This story is 25 drabbles as chapters within the Marvel Cinematic Universe; including The Avengers and all of its related films.
1. Stained

"Barton!"

She was the only one who could sneak up on him. Let alone one of the few who could break into his apartment. He'd flinched, but then relaxed. Natasha. "Hm?" He called back from where he leaned over his sink.

"You mind?"

Clint's eyes shifted from his reflection to the doorway of his bathroom. Natasha was wearing a red dress. It'd been white when he'd seen her the night before. She was holding one of his undershirts. "Take it." Back to shaving. "Working hard?"

She peeled off the dress and slipped into the tank. "It was a date."


	2. Autumn

Steve rubbed his eyes and looked away from the screen. His monitor was aglow with images of Halloween. He needed a costume for Tony's party that he'd reluctantly agreed to attend. When he was a kid, he cut three holes in a sheet. Now, adults were dressing up more thoroughly and excessively than children; and in some cases, _less_ thoroughly. There was a skimpy, revealing version of anything a woman could want; it was mind-boggling. And this was coming from a guy who worked with show girls. His hand moved to scroll idly. There. He smirked; lopsided. The Lone Ranger.


	3. The Help

"Jar?"

"Yes, sir?"

"How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop?" Tony smirked as he worked, having felt a wave of exhaustion overcome him. It always helped to bother Jarvis.

Jarvis sighed. "According to results from studies conducted by Purdue and Michigan Universities, the amount of licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop varies from anywhere between 364 to 411, sir."

"...I had no idea you'd have an answer for that one. Reminds me of a study I did at MIT; we took-"

"Ladies underpants, sir?"

"Touche, Jarvis."


	4. Playing Doctor

"I'm not that kind of doctor, Tony. I've told you..." Bruce said, only mildly annoyed.

"This isn't about therapy. I'm coming to you as a friend."

"You want my advice – as a friend?"

"Yes." Tony gave one, sure nod.

"Don't get married." Bruce looked back down to the tablet he was working on.

"Didn't see that coming. I thought Libras were supposed to be all about love and-"

"You wanted my opinion."

"Why not? Get married, I mean." Tony wondered, baffled. "I thought you liked Pepper."

"Because…" Bruce sighed, "it'll be doing her a favor, in the long run."

"Ouch."


	5. Genderswap

Nikolai Romanoff._ One man holding his own in a group of superhuman women._  
Stephanie Rogers. _The woman out of time._

* * *

"Fury asked me to check on you. It isn't something I normally do…" The red-haired man said over the coffee he had no intention of drinking.

"I appreciate it, really, but I don't need anything." The Black Widower was in her apartment, and it was to make sure she wasn't thinking of killing herself. Perfect. "Time, ironically. That's what I need."

"You're living on borrowed time as it is. You need to get outta here."

"…That's all I wanna do."


	6. Circus

SHIELD agents hustled back and forth in front of and behind him, but he remained still. There was a serious threat of a nuclear strike (when wasn't there?), but all Clint could think about was Natasha in his t-shirt. It'd been days, but the image was haunting his daydreams – and the nocturnal ones, too. All around him, organized chaos was unraveling; the inner workings were turning that made the clock tick and kept the world on schedule. SHIELD was the gears, and its agents were the face. Agents like Black Widow; the ringmaster in the circus of Hawkeye's mind.


	7. On The Road Again

A wormhole. An Einstein–Rosen bridge. The pathway created by the Allfather. However one chose to look at it, Thor wasn't glad to be traveling through it. Adjoined to him through the bond of the Tesseract was his 'brother', Loki, and they were returning to Asgard to deliver the powerful, blue cube back to a safe, guarded resting place. Thor was glad of that fact. The part that filled the demigod with dread was explaining to his father every crime and misdeed that Loki had committed. He prayed, as they moved through space and time. For what, he wasn't certain.


	8. Hostage

He'd been held prisoner in his own mind, having only the tact enough to save the planet with a narrow window of chance; a tiny loophole. Dr. Erik Selvig had been freed, though. He was walking around of his own accord with as few thoughts of Loki or the Tesseract in his mind as possible. Jane, though, her brain never touched by Loki, was still being held hostage by Thor. Erik's heart broke for his colleague and protégé every time she gave _that_ sigh. The sorrow in her big, brown eyes was enough to make the doctor pray to Odin.


	9. Truth or Dare

"D- er, truth. Yeah. Truth." Steve paused.

"'Truth'? The Capsicle chooses 'truth'?" Tony sighed. All that life to catch up on, and all those catlike reflexes, and he chose to talk about this feelings? "Alright. When did you know that you were destined for greatness?"

Steve blinked. There was condescension in Tony's voice, but Steve raised his eyebrows in consideration. He still didn't think he was 'great', or destined for anything, really, but he _did_ know the time he felt the best about himself. "When I was curled around a dummy grenade and the other troops were hiding."

Tony smiled.


	10. Fire

Red. Natasha was akin to it. Her hair. Her personality. The accents on her uniform. The 'red in her ledger'. Even the blood on her hands. She was no stranger to the color. She favored it most of the time. Except, that is, on the nights when she awoke in a cool sweat, hands shaking and throat tight. The dream of the hospital fire was so vivid that she relived it every time. She 'butt-dialed' Clint on those nights. They both knew she meant to call – each and every time, but he never said otherwise. Thank god for Hawkeye.


	11. Courage

In some ways, it was harder on the others. The rest of the Avengers were known to the public; Bruce could hide behind his thick, green skin. The truth about Harlem, and even the Chitauri invasion, was still hush-hush. Tony, Natasha, Clint, Steve, even Thor… they couldn't go out without being recognized. They had the luxury, however, of knowing that they had control over their bodies and minds. They weren't going to lash out and accidentally kill a subway car full of people. Well, Natasha might. The train screeched. Bruce smirked and ducked his head; eyes back on his newspaper.


	12. Disney

1937. Walt Disney had released his first full-length animated picture. Steve remembered almost every frame. He'd spent all his meager childhood earnings on seeing the movie as many times as possible before it left the theater. The would-be artist had since spent the past two years catching up on every Disney film that had been released since his… last mission. He smiled as the end credits of Brave began to roll. Merida was a far cry from Snow White, he thought, wasn't she? It was refreshing. But Steve liked a girl who knew how to use a weapon.


	13. Art

"Steve?" Tony called.

Steve turned in the hallway. "Yeah?"

"Here." The billionaire pushed a musty-looking thing into Steve's hands as he approached.

Steve's brow furrowed, and then he smiled. "Is this-?" His sketchbook. "Where'd you get it?"

"Those boxes of junk Fury dropped in my lap last year. I remembered it last night. Don't ask me why. My dad must have saved it. Again, don't ask me why." He smirked.

"Well, thanks." Steve tried to sound grateful. "Did you look through it?"

"Yeah. For what it's worth, you're not the only one who feels like a performing monkey sometimes."


	14. Hold Me

He shivered. Bruce swung his legs over the side of his bed and sat for a few seconds while he rubbed his eyes. He'd been dreaming, and the sheer pleasantness of it had woken him. He'd been sleeping on cold rocks, clothes gone, with Betty's coat over him, and her body pressed against his. It was more of a memory than a dream, he thought, but he wasn't going to complain about reliving it. Even though they'd slept at the hotel together, her lying next to the Hulk, and even comforting him, made Bruce miss his ex-colleague-and-lover all the more.


	15. Friend Zone

Whenever they touched, whether sparring or working or flirting, Natasha always got the impression that Clint wanted more – more fighting, partnering, toying… more _touching_. He was always there with an open ear or sound advice, whichever she needed (when she needed anything from another person – which was rare). Despite all that, their friendship and flirtation, she never made a move. It wasn't from fear of ruining their work. Clint was a good man. He's spared her. He'd been a father. A soldier. A husband. How could she even begin to measure up to the life he'd lived before they met?


	16. Tea

As they sank into the clear, brown liquid, Pepper watched the sugar cubes begin to dissolve. Tony sat across from her in silence, as the engines of the jet buzzed on either side of the cabin. He was staring out the window. Her hands remained in her lap and she looked down at them, feeling uncharacteristically speechless.

"It's over, isn't it?" He broke the silence.

"Hm?" Her eyebrows rose.

"Us. We're done, aren't we?" Tony's face looked almost hopeful that he was wrong.

Her eyes fell to the table again. The sugar was gone. All the sweetness evaporated away. "Yes."


	17. View

Her side of the closet, of the bed, of the… penthouse. Everything was empty. Except, well, Tony. He felt at peace with it; as if it'd been a long time coming. Hell, it probably had been. A person could only take so much – both of them had been dealt their fair share of bullshit by the other.

He walked closer to the windows that looked across the terrace where they'd intended to build an outdoor kitchen – even though neither of them cooked. Tony took a long drink of his coconut water and then smirked. He'd still build it. Happy cooked.


	18. Mind Control

He'd once commanded the minds of earth's brightest and best; Dr. Erik Selvig, Clint Barton, a slew of earth's strongest security force. But Loki hadn't needed cosmic power to bring a group of citizens to their knees in fear. He'd just needed a little persuasion; something he was incredibly talented at harnessing. Now he sat in solitude, nothing but his failure and, dare he think it, guilt, to keep him company. There were a few times when he'd thought it might be comfortable to have his own thoughts stolen, and for his head to be filled with anything else.


	19. Mirrors

Zaviera Silvercloud; the daughter of Jonathan Silvercloud, one of the greatest weapons makers of their time. Tony Stark; the son of (arguably) _the_ greatest weapons maker of their time. Now Tony was working on green energy and peace, and this woman was creating robotic limbs for veterans within her technology company. Times had changed. It made him glad. It also made him curious. Their fathers had been colleagues, at different points in time, and Iron Man's eyes had been opened to the benefits of partner work, after all. He was going to give her a call. Or Jarvis was. Whatever.


	20. Helter Skelter

Zap (Zaviera Silvercloud) was up to her elbows in circuits when she sensed a call. The technopath tapped into her phone to check it. Her eyes shifted to the side with surprise when she mentally read 'Tony Stark'. She dropped what she was holding, moving to answer. "Hello?" Helter Skelter played before she killed her music via mind.

"Hi. Tony Stark. I was wondering if you wanted to come over and play. So to speak."

She blinked; a small smirk formed in the corner of the Latina's lips. "Okay."

"That easy?"

"Not hardly." She grinned.

"Good. Oh, and good song."


End file.
